Muskogee Resident Sentenced For Federal Firearm Offense

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Deland Ray Sam, age 62, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 31 months in prison for one count of Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Muskogee Police Department.

On September 26, 2024, Sam pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.  According to investigators, on June 21, 2021, Sam attempted to elude law enforcement in a highspeed chase which ended near 6th and Hancock in Muskogee.  Officers uncovered an empty pistol magazine in the vehicle which led them to search the intersection of Main and Hancock, where Sam had noticeably swerved during the pursuit.  There officers recovered a loaded .40 caliber pistol.  Sam had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Sam will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob R. Parker represented the United States.